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Carrie Gracie Pulled No Punches In Her Open Resignation Letter To The BBC

Natalie Gil
8 January 2018, 10:20
BBC pay is back at the top of the news agenda this morning, with people around the world tweeting their support for its China editor. Why? Last night, Carrie Gracie resigned over pay inequality between men and women, saying there was a "crisis of trust" at the corporation.
Gracie, a BBC journalist for three decades and one of its four international editors, published an open letter to licence fee payers on her website in which she resigned from her post over pay inequality with male colleagues. She said she believed the public has "a right to know that [the BBC] is breaking equality law and resisting pressure for a fair and transparent pay structure."
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Gracie has garnered much support for her bold move, with countless colleagues, MPs, members of the public and celebrities, including Emma Watson, commenting publicly on the scandal and using the hashtags #IStandWithCarrie and #BBCwomen.
Last July, when the BBC was forced to reveal the salaries of staff earning more than £150,000, it emerged that the two male international editors – US editor Jon Sopel and Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen – were on the list, while she and her colleague Katya Adler, Europe editor, were absent.
“

I am not asking for more money...I simply want the BBC to abide by the law and value men and women equally

”
"I am not asking for more money," Gracie continued. "I believe I am very well paid already – especially as someone working for a publicly funded organisation. I simply want the BBC to abide by the law and value men and women equally." The BBC told her "there were differences between roles which justified the pay gap, but it has refused to explain these differences."
Gracie claimed the corporation wasn't following through on its commitment in July to give equal pay to men and women doing equal work. "For the first time, women saw hard evidence of what they’d long suspected, that they are not being valued equally."
She said that while many women have since sought equal pay "through internal negotiation... managers still deny there is a problem," adding that the situation would likely "end in a disastrous legal defeat for the BBC and an exodus of female talent at every level."
Gracie said she won't be leaving the corporation completely but will return from Beijing to her previous job in the BBC newsroom, "where I expect to be paid equally". The group BBC Women, made up of more than 130 broadcasters and producers, was formed in the wake of July's revelations and released a statement in support of Gracie.
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Emma Watson, who was asked about the story at the Golden Globes in LA last night, said that while the BBC's commitment to pay equality was "great... we need to see them fulfil it," the BBC reported. "What has happened with the resignation is a really good example. You have got to follow through. You have to back up what you are saying."
Female politicians and campaigners praised Gracie's move on Twitter, including SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and no-nonsense Labour MP Jess Phillips, who tweeted saying she'll start paying 50% less of her licence fee.
Many of Gracie's female colleagues at the BBC, and others in the media associated with the corporation, also got behind her, with many describing her as "brave and brilliant".
There was less support from men working at the corporation, although a few did put their heads above the parapet.
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